John edwakd cowlbs



(No Model.)

J. E. OOWLBS.

PACKAGE FOR CONTAINING AND DISPLAYING MERCHANDISE.

No. 887,769. Patented Aug. 14, 1888.

N, PETERS. uncut-0 m, Washmglon. n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT EEicE.

JOHN EDlVARD OOXVLES, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

PACKAGE FOR CONTAINING AND DISPLAYING MERCHANDISE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 387,769. dated August 1888- Application filed April 26,1588. Serial No. 271,951. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

5e it known that I, JOHN EDWARD CowLEs, a resident of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented an Improved Package for Containing and Displaying Merchandise, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide an adj ostablc package for containing and displaying cigars and other articles of merchandisc.

The invention consists in three boxes or trays combined by connecting-links in such manner that the boxes can be superposed to cover one another or drawn into position of a step, each upper box slightly overlapping that directly below for convenient display of and access to the contents of each box.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of the boxes closed and showing the step form in dotted lines, and Fig. 2 is a top view of the boxes extended for display.

In the accompanying drawings,the letter A represents the lower, B the central, and D the npper,box o'r tray of the tier of boxes. These boxes are all of the same length and width, but may differ in height.

The box A is connected to the box B at its ends by links a, that extend from near the center of the box A. to near the front cornerof the box B, the ends of the links a being pivoted to the boxes A B. The box B is connected to the box D by linksb in similar manner. The links I) extend from near the back corners ofthe box B to near the center of the box I), as shown. The two outer boxes or, in other words, the boxes A. and Dare connected at their ends by links (I, that extend from near the back corners of the box'A diagonally to the front corner of the box D. The links a, Z and d all extend in the same direction when the boxes are placed to cover one another. The upper box, D, carries, by preference, a supporting-rod or brace, e, at its back, that is adapted to rest upon the counter, table, or other support upon which the display-package is placed. The box D is also provided with a suitable lid, f. When closed, as by full lines in Fig. 1, the boxD completely covers the box B and the box B completely covers the box A. Therefore A and B do not have additional covers. The one cover F there fore answers for all three boxes.

In extending the boxes A B D to display the contents the boxes B D are moved backward frornovcr the box A into the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, the brace 6 being then swung down to support the back of the box D. \Vhen thns extended, the links a. hold the front of the box B upon the back of the box A, while the links I) hold the front of the box D on the back of the box B, the long links d serving as additional braces for securing the box D with reference to the box A in the desired position. \Vhen thus opened and the lidf thrown back, the contents of all the boxes will be exposed.

When it is desired to close the boxes, it is only necessary to push the boxes BD over the box A, when they will assume the positions shown by full lines in Fig. 1.

With this construction the display-package will take up comparatively small space when closed and during transportation, and can be readily extended. to display its contents to advantage; hence the package can be used in lieu of a show-case, or advantageously also within a show-case.

Having now described my invention, what I claim is The combination of a series or" superposed boxes or trays with their corresponding sides in the same plane and each connected at its opposite ends to the next above it by a lever having its extremities pivoted to each, two levers pivoted to the rear ends of the lower box and the forward ends of the upper box of the series, and a supportingbar ri gidl ysecu red to and in the plane of the rear face of the upper box and extending to the bottom of the lower box, substantially as described.

J. EDWARD COYVLES.

Witnesses:

LOUIS SIEBER, HARRY M. TURK. 

